


Never Gonna Happen

by Brumeier



Series: Bite Sized Fic 2017 [22]
Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Community: mcsheplets, Cuddling & Snuggling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Episode: s05e06 The Shrine, Established Relationship, M/M, Major Character Injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-17
Updated: 2017-01-17
Packaged: 2018-09-18 03:16:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9365636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brumeier/pseuds/Brumeier
Summary: LJ Comment Fic for Love prompt:Stargate: Atlantis, John Sheppard/Rodney McKay, Comforting each other.In which Rodney and John attempt to comfort each other while Rodney suffers through Second Childhood.





	

It had taken some time, and a couple beers, to calm Rodney down. No doubt Jennifer would’ve taken exception to that, but then she wasn’t at the top of John’s list at the moment. The feeling was probably mutual, since John had vetoed Jennifer’s request that Rodney return to the infirmary for the night so he could be monitored.

“I can stay?” Rodney asked.

“Of course. Always.”

They stripped down to underwear and t-shirts and got into the bigger bed that Rodney had insisted on when he and John had started sleeping together. And Rodney might not remember everything these days, but he spooned up behind John just like always, his arm looped under John’s and across John’s chest.

It had never hurt before.

“I don’t want to forget you,” Rodney murmured into the back of his neck.

“Never gonna happen,” John replied. He covered Rodney’s hand with his own, and clenched the other one tightly in the bed sheets.

John was no stranger to denial. He was practically the self-appointed spokesman. If Rodney hadn’t made the first move, and then insistently followed up with a second, third and fourth move, they’d probably still be pining over each other like a couple of lovesick teenagers in a John Hughes movie.

“John.” Rodney tightened his hold. “I want you to be okay.”

The laugh that came out of John broke into a kind of sob, and he did his best to swallow it down. He wasn’t okay. Wouldn’t be okay. He’d lost so much to the Pegasus galaxy already. Why did he have to lose Rodney to some brain-eating parasite?

“I’ll be okay,” he lied, his voice little more than a whisper.

“You have to be.” Rodney nuzzled John’s ear. “I can’t…I don’t…”

“Hey. It’s okay.” John reached back to squeeze Rodney’s hip. He couldn’t turn and look at Rodney, couldn’t see that fearful expression he knew was on Rodney’s face. “We’ll figure something out. We always do.”

“We do?”

“We do,” John said with more confidence. Because that was true. Nothing was impossible for Rodney McKay, the smartest man in two galaxies. ( _Don’t think about Arcturus_.) They were a team.

“No man left behind?”

“Never.” John pulled Rodney’s hand up to his mouth and kissed his palm. His eyes burned. “Especially not you.”

“I love you,” Rodney murmured. “Even if I forget.”

“I won’t forget,” John promised. That, at least, was the absolute truth.

That seemed to reassure Rodney, who was asleep moments later, his breaths deep and even against John’s neck. John couldn’t sleep even if he wanted to. He didn’t know how much longer he’d have Rodney curled up around him and he didn’t want to miss a single second of it.

“I love you, too, buddy,” John whispered. “We’ll fix this. We will.”

Sometimes denial could masquerade as hope.

**Author's Note:**

>  **AN:** Is there any ep of SGA more heart-rending than The Shrine? There can never be enough fic about it as far as I’m concerned, and I’ll read all of it and cry. ::grins::
> 
> Written for McSheplets #246: Denial, and Cuddles for Comfort 2017.


End file.
